Boy's need inspires game controller

A disabled student's frustration with the limitations of his misshapen hands fueled an inventive Miami teacher's imagination. From that inspiration, a device was born that thousands of video gamers are using to play faster than ever.

When Danny Lamarca, now 16, confided in David Kotkin that he longed to play video games as well as his peers, the high school art teacher thought he could do something about it. The solution he devised gave rise to the Avenger.

Its black, snap-on shell turns a mild-mannered Xbox 360 controller into a monster: Flexible tentacles extend from the side and rubber straps pull taught against a clawlike stand, giving players hair-trigger control and decreasing finger fatigue.

This new weapon in the global gaming arena has garnered praise from reviewers for being comfortable to use and enhancing player reaction time -- vital when a split second can mean the difference between victory and "game over."

Since the gaming accessory made its public debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January, about 7,000 have been sold. But the Avenger's origins had little to do with claiming market share and everything to do with helping a student.

Danny Lamarca used to struggle to hold his PlayStation 3 controller.

That's because he was born with epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica, a hereditary condition that affected the size of his hands. His palms are a little bigger than a half-dollar coin, and his fingers are short, looking more like toes.

"It wasn't so much as frustrating," the teen says. "It was more like I wished I could play better, to my fullest potential."

What he didn't know is that his teacher had begun tinkering with an idea several months earlier: Is there a way to make a game controller easier to hold and play for long periods? Danny's gaming aspirations spurred him on.

And so began Kotkin's two-year journey and $300,000 investment to create an accessory that would improve any player's game.

The Avenger turns a controller into an extension of the player's hand. Flexible rubber arms extend from the buttons, resting on your fingers, and a slight lift or twitch of a finger pushes a button. Rubber bands turn the back-side trigger buttons into hair triggers that fire with a fraction of the pressure normally needed.

Getting engineers to believe in the design was Kotkin's biggest challenge.